zonulin -> leaky gut

Suzy

Guest

THe speaker says that zonulin results in leaky gut. He says the biggest stimulus is bacterial overgrowth. And the second largest stimulus is gluten.

I thought maybe this was perhaps the caes if gluten was not broken down. But he then goes on to report on a study in rats showing that gluten resulted in elevated zonulin and an immune response to the gluten. Since the rats were healthy I assumed there was no issue in breaking down gluten. Unless they gave so much gluten the rats could not possibly break it down and the remainder stimulated the zonulin.

He said this increased i mmune response occcurs in all of us, healthy or not.

This is a little disturbing since gluten is so prevalent in our society.

Senior Member

Thank you for providing this. I'm too busy to look at it now, but I do want to come down on the side of bacterial populations plaiying the biggest role here. For decades I had to avoid gluten religiously. Even small amounts would result in vomiting, GI bloating, etc. But now I eat it every day with no problem!! So I don't see it as a genetic issue, for me at least.

Senior Member

From my understanding he was saying that zonulin is produced even in non-gluten-sensitive people in response to gluten, right? In that case it seems to me that all of us who are concerned about a leaky gut should cut out gluten even if we don't have a noticeable reaction to it...